The Biden administration on Wednesday announced it’s reinstating restrictions on logging and road-building on about nine million acres of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest.
The rule, which was finalized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, repeals a Trump administration decision that stripped safeguards for the southeastern Alaska rainforest.
The agency’s plan prohibits road construction, reconstruction and timber harvest in the rainforest’s roadless areas.

Part of Tongass National Forest
Urbanglimpses | Istock | Getty Images

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced it’s reinstating restrictions on logging and road-building on about nine million acres of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest.
The rule, which was finalized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, repeals a Trump administration decision that stripped safeguards for the forest in southeastern Alaska. The agency’s plan prohibits road construction, reconstruction and timber harvest in the rainforest’s roadless areas.

The Tongass is a pristine area of 16.7 million acres that serves as a major carbon sink and provides habitat for wildlife such as salmon and trout, brown bears and bald eagles. The rainforest is also considered critical for carbon sequestration and storage to help mitigate climate change. The country’s forests absorb carbon dioxide equivalent to more than 10% of U.S. annual greenhouse gas emissions, according to the USDA.
“As our nation’s largest national forest and the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, the Tongass National Forest is key to conserving biodiversity and addressing the climate crisis,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.

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“Restoring roadless protections listens to the voices of Tribal Nations and the people of Southeast Alaska while recognizing the importance of fishing and tourism to the region’s economy,” Vilsack added.
The dispute over protections of the Tongass has lasted for more than a couple decades. Alaska officials have argued that restrictions on the rainforest’s roadless areas have limited economic opportunities for the state.
Alaska’s Republican governor Mike Dunleavy, in a statement on social media, called the Biden administration’s ruling a “huge loss” for residents.

“Alaskans deserve access to the resources that the Tongass provides — jobs, renewable energy resources and tourism, not a government plan that treats human beings within a working forest like an invasive species,” Dunleavy wrote.
Environmental groups praised the rule as a win for the forest, its wildlife and the local communities that depend on its intact ecosystems.
“This decision puts public lands and people first, and we are grateful for the action,” Andy Moderow, state director of the Alaska Wilderness League, said in a statement.

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Caption: Walmart employee trains on Oculus VR headset

It wasn’t long ago that many companies were doubling down on the “Experience Economy.” There was plenty of money to be made helping people check off items on their bucket list. Seventy-six percent of consumers said they would rather spend their money on experiences than on material items in a 2019 survey  by Momentum Worldwide.
 But the coronavirus wiped out what we knew of the “Experience Economy” overnight. For obvious reasons, today’s consumers are staying closer to home and avoiding in-person contact with people they don’t know and trust. 

 We’ve now entered what market research firm IBTM World calls the “virtual experience economy.”  Consumers want brands to use technology that not only serves a purpose, like making it easier to order a cup of coffee from their car, but also creates a memorable and lasting experience.
 That’s good news for innovators. As a tech entrepreneur, here are three trends that I’m following closely:

Zoom-plus experiences

Many of us will be meeting on videoconference calls for the foreseeable future, whether we have Zoom fatigue or not. The global videoconferencing market is expected to grow to $8.56 billion by 2027, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 9.9% from 2020 until then, according to data released in April by Grand View Research. This growth is fuelled by the shift in attitudes about in-person meetings and the recognition that a lot can be achieved without needing to fly around the world.
But the bar for videoconferencing experiences is rising in the virtual experience economy. Innovative meeting organizers are already turning Zoom calls into entertaining in-home experiences. Rather than have a sommelier teach viewers a lesson about fine wines on the screen, they’ll send samples of the wines the sommelier is discussing at home so they can engage together in tastings.
 Some of the most interesting interpretations of Zoom rely on augmented and virtual reality. Meeting participants can don a headset and partake in a meeting that makes them feel as if they are gathered together in a boardroom, or any space for that matter. Furthermore, they can appear as a facsimile of their own form or choose an interesting avatar or character. That adds a whole new dimension to meetings.

The augmented getaway

Many consumers are yearning for a break from their daily routine but are not comfortable jumping on a plane yet. This has spawned a growing market for augmented and virtual reality experiences for folks who are choosing a staycation this year but still have that need to connect with the natural world and the outdoors. With few global vacationers ready to travel to exotic locations around the world, virtual reality technology that transports them there to explore is catching on rapidly. 
 Helping armchair travellers plan the first trip they take when they are ready to get on a plane again is another hot growth area for AR and VR. Some hospitality chains—from Holiday Inn Express to the high-end Atlantis Dubai—are attracting travellers with virtual room tours. Others are using AR-powered apps to help guests who point their smart phone at local attractions to learn more about them or to create novelty experiences like an app Holiday Inn created to allow guests who pointed their smartphones to see virtual, realistic images of famous athletes.
 When people are finally ready to travel, they’ll be looking to do that with a select group of family members or friends they know well, rather than jumping on a crowded cruise ship. Many will prefer remote or rural locations over crowded or densely populated urban areas, as recent data from Airbnb shows.

 Tourist destinations that relied on crowds are now promoting socially distanced options they can enjoy when they get there, from walking tours to drive-through concerts.
 A growing number will be driven by virtual and augmented reality. The Seattle Design Festival used a virtual reality app called Amp’Up to stage a virtual art show commemorating the art brought about by Black Lives Matter. People who download the app on their phones can use it to view eight virtual artworks that appear on top of existing buildings and iconic sites in the city.
 Notre Dame Cathedral has relied on virtual reality to create a film called “Rebuilding Notre-Dame” that shows visitors what the cathedral was like before and after it caught fire in April 2019. FlyView, a company that offers virtual experiences in Paris, has been airing the film. Part of the proceeds from ticket sales will be used to support the rebuilding of the cathedral.

A new spin on experiential learning

 
Now that many employers and schools have tried virtual methods of teaching and training, many have concluded that experiential learning using augmented reality and virtual reality can be very effective. Technavio’s report “AI in the Artificial Intelligence Sector 2018-2022,”  published before the pandemic, projected a 48% compound annual growth rate for AI driven tools, based on revenue. 
 The possibilities for using it in education are endless. For instance, Jon Spike, coordinator of instructional technology integration services at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, who presented at the conference IDEACON in February, used an Oculus Quest virtual reality headset to lead students through the experience of defusing a bomb on the app Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, in an exercise in problem solving and communication skills.
 Meanwhile, Igloo Vision is making a virtual reality software that now helps students at Loughborough University’s Department of Chemical Engineering in the U.K. learn about safety in a live process plant in the oil & gas industry — an environment where there is no room for error.
 Meanwhile, AR and VR are also transforming workplace training providing a 3D experience that many organizations find is very engaging and effective. Twenty-three percent of large companies are already deploying AR, and 11% use AR, according to the 2019 Training Industry Report.
 This is driving a boom in new technologies. For instance, Tradiebot , an augmented reality app, helps car mechanics learn how to repair a car by overlaying the steps on a car, then offering the mechanic guidance on what to do next. UPS now uses VR in its driver training. Siemens has used AR to train workers how to assemble gas burners; the workers wear smart glasses with built-in training manuals.
 Ultimately, this is just the beginning. Waiting for the pre-2020 experience economy to “bounce back” isn’t realistic. Consumers and businesses now want a brand new set of experiences—virtual ones—and the biggest opportunities will come to companies that adapt quickly.
 Vikas Gupta is co-founder and CEO of the augmented reality company AVARA Media and a member of YPO. More

After just under two weeks, negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP broke down Wednesday night.
It appears that wages and artificial intelligence protections remain sticking points between actors and studios.
The strike will rage on, disrupting marketing campaigns and preventing production from commencing on many film and TV projects.

Members of the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild walk a picket line on Day 1 outside NBC Universal in New York City on July 14, 2023. 
Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images

Forget about a Hollywood ending for actors and studios — for now.
After just under two weeks, negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down Wednesday night.

It appears that wages and artificial intelligence protections remain sticking points between actors and studios.
The AMPTP claims that SAG-AFTRA’s offer would cost more than $800 million per year, a sum that studios said would “create an untenable economic burden.” SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating team countered on Thursday, accusing studios of using bully tactics to misrepresent the cost of the actor’s proposal, overstating the price by 60%.The two parties have also clashed on what guardrails should and should not be attached to the use of AI.
With the dissolution of talks, the strike will rage on, disrupting marketing campaigns and preventing production from commencing on a significant portion of Hollywood’s film and television projects.
While some talk shows, like those of late-night heavyweights Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert and John Oliver, returned following the WGA deal, most scripted programs remain dark. Some independent productions have managed to continue by agreeing to SAG-AFTRA’s interim agreement.
If negotiations do not continue or become resolved soon, more theatrical film release dates will be delayed, disrupting the box office, and television releases will be pushed.

Short-lived hope

Hollywood and industry observers had hoped negotiations would move quickly in the wake of the Writers Guild of America’s deal with the AMPTP last month. Writers officially ratified the new contract earlier this week.
But Wednesday’s bad turn dashed those hopes.
“After meaningful conversations, it is clear that the gap between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too great, and conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction,” the AMPTP said in a statement Wednesday.
Meanwhile, SAG-AFTRA’s negotiators claim that the proposal from AMPTP was “shockingly, worth less than they proposed before the strike began.”
“These companies refuse to protect performers from being replaced by AI, they refuse to increase your wages to keep up with inflation, and they refuse to share a tiny portion of the immense revenue your work generates for them,” SAG-AFTRA negotiators wrote in a letter to striking actors.
The AMPTP said common issues, like general wage increases, SVOD residuals and viewership bonuses, were the same terms ratified by the Directors Guild of America and the WGA.
The WGA secured pay increases in each of the next three years, artificial intelligence restrictions and a new residual system for streaming based on viewership. The guild also negotiated higher contribution rates to health benefits and pensions, as well as a guaranteed number of writers in writers’ rooms for television shows.
SAG-AFTRA is looking to improve wages, working conditions and health and pension benefits, as well as establish guardrails for the use of AI in future television and film productions. Additionally, the union is seeking more transparency from streaming services about viewership so that residual payments can be made equitable to linear TV. The guild is also looking to standardize the self-tape process.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is a member of the AMPTP. More

Chipotle shares jumped after the company’s earnings and revenue topped Wall Street’s estimates.
Same-store sales rose 10.9%, topping StreetAccount estimates of 8.6%.  
Menu prices are up roughly 10% from a year earlier.

Chipotle Mexican Grill on Tuesday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts’ expectations, fueled by better than expected same-store sales growth.
Like McDonald’s, Chipotle said traffic to its restaurants grew during the first quarter despite higher menu items. Chipotle’s menu prices are up roughly 10% from a year earlier. CEO Brian Niccol said the chain has demonstrated that it has pricing power.

“We don’t want to be in front of the inflationary environment, but we also don’t want to fall behind,” he said on the company’s conference call.

Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk in front of a Chipotle restaurant in San Francisco, California, April 19, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

For now, Chipotle is pausing price increases, Niccol said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”
Shares of the company rose more than 7% in extended trading.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $10.50 vs. $8.92 expected
Revenue: $2.37 billion vs. $2.34 billion expected

Chipotle reported first-quarter net income of $291.6 million, or $10.50 per share, up from $158.3 million, or $5.59 per share, a year earlier. The company’s menu price hikes and lower avocado prices helped improve profit margins compared with the year-ago period.

Revenue climbed 17.2%, to $2.37 billion, from $2 billion during the year-earlier period. Same-store sales rose 10.9%, topping StreetAccount estimates of 8.6%. 
Niccol said that higher-income consumers are returning to restaurants more frequently. Even lower-income diners are visiting more often than they were in the prior six months, although their traffic remains down from a year ago. Overall, traffic rose roughly 4% in the quarter, reversing last quarter’s decline.
In February, executives said January’s same-store sales grew by double digits. A year earlier, the company saw sluggish sales as the omicron Covid outbreak put pressure on staffing and caused some temporary store closures.
Chipotle’s chicken al pastor is on track to be the chain’s most popular limited-time protein option ever, Niccol said on the company’s conference call. The company launched it in mid-March.
Digital orders accounted for nearly 40% of sales during the quarter. Chipotle customers have been ordering their burritos and tacos more in person compared with the year-ago period.
Executives also outlined changes coming to restaurants to improve speed of service and accuracy. The chain has been testing new grills that cook faster and more consistently. It has also been experimenting with how to staff its two make lines to keep up with demand from both in-person diners and digital orders.
The company opened 41 new locations during the quarter, 34 of which included its drive-thru lanes reserved for digital order pickup.
Looking to the rest of the year, Chipotle is anticipating same-store sales growth in the mid-to-high single digits. It’s expecting the same range for its second-quarter same-store sales growth, roughly in line with StreetAccount estimates of 5.8%.
The company reiterated its plans to open between 255 to 285 new restaurants during 2023. More

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